A Chinese university acquired Nvidia H200 chips despite U.S. sanctions

Northwestern Polytechnical University, a Chinese institution with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army, purchased two Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips last month, despite being included on the US technology export blacklist. The purchase, worth 874,700 yuan, was identified by Reuters in public procurement documents.

The chips were purchased through the Chinese company Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, for the management school, rather than directly from Nvidia. This year, the university also contracted access to servers with H200, A100 and A800 chips, processors subject to US export restrictions.

The Xi’an-based institution has been on the “Entity List” since 2001, and the restrictions were tightened in 2019. The university conducts research on military aircraft, missiles and satellites, and is part of the “Seven Sons of National Defense” group.